i'm charles molineaux. this is your first look at what's happening right now in the midlands. we're shivering through an extremely cold day. let's take a live look over downtown columbia through the wis skycam. . ben tanner is in the first alert weather center. and ben, the sun is out today, but it's not helping much with the temperatures. temperatures started in the teens in many places as cold high pressure is in charge today though wednesday. today, sunny and cold, highs lower 40s. tonight, clear, cold, lows near 20 to lower 20s. wednesday, mostly sunny, chilly, highs middle 40s. thursday, increasing clouds, a chance of showers by evening, highs lower rain chance 20%. a strong storm system develops

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will bring widespread rain by friday, some rain may be heavy. highs in the middle 50s, rain chance 80%. system moves out by early saturday, colder air behind the storm may sneak into the area on the back end in time for a flurry or two early saturday. sunday looks mostly sunny, highs

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in this cold weather, it's wise to remind you about heating safety in your home when temperatures drop this low. officials at the columbia fire department say to keep the space around any portable space heaters, furnaces and fireplaces clear by at least 3 feet. they also say never use your home. as always, test your smoke alarms monthly and have your heating equipment and cleaned and inspected every year. means you could encounter patches of icey roadway during your morning commute. highway patrol troopers say if you hit a spot of "black ice," reduce your speed and let your foot off

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brakes. if you're sliding to the right, counter steer to the left and vice versa. one way you can help keep roadways clear is to make sure your automatic sprinklers are turned off at your business or home -- scdot officials say that's one of the primary culprits of slippery conditions on the roads. the cold weather combined with a water main break caused headaches for some drivers on their morning commute in west columbia. crews had to close sunset boulevard near jarvis klapman boulevard after water leaking from a water main froze on the road forming a sheet of ice. the city of west columbia says crews worked on that line today - which slowed other commuters. and it meant a boil water advisory for the house of raeford columbia farms on sunset blvd which - if you work there - will be closed tonight and tomorrow. your employer will reopen once they get the all-clear from west columbia.

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ben carson just announcing he's for the day after an accident involving some of his staff in iowa. -van hit patch of ice, flipped on side hit by another vehicle staffer and 3 volunteers were in the van. -one person gravely injured. -spoke in charleston a short while ago. "i'm gonna head up to omaha where he's being flown in right now . i've talked to the neurosurgeon up there and i've talked to the family but i think that's where we need to be right now. the other passengers are being checked out at a hospital in iowa. only the seriously injured individua;l is being transported to the university of nebraska medical center in omaha. we'll keep you updated as we learn more. inside the state house- lawmakers are back in session-

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which they promised to tackle is still in limbo. and now, the fight over the gas tax is spilling over to one lexington gas station- will whitson is live in our newsroom to explain. one anti tax group is paying the gas tax at the exxon in downtown lexington tomorrow morning- covering 45 cents per gallon- but lawmakers say the group is missing the point. americans for prosperity, one of the staunchest opponents to raising the gas tax to fund road repairs, is offering to pay drivers' gas tax tomorrow morning in lexington. state senators shane massey and katrina shealy say fill 'er up. edgefield "i encourage everybody to stop by and take advantage of it. make sure you spend all their money." "it's sad, it's expected, unfortunately.

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politician behavior that they think they're above everybody else." the standoff between senators massey and shealy and the anti-tax group stem from afp's campaign- "they have phone calls that have gone out, and they have a script that this group has given them, and this script is, to put it politiely very deceptive about what's actually been happening." senator massey says afp focuses only on the gas tax- failing to no plan offered up is acceptable so far- saying the reform doesn't go far enough, and the they're wasting billions of dollars." as for the actual road bill itself- it's stuck in president pro tem hugh "i understand they're probably making some progress, i ask that you carry that over." - meaning the way the gas tax debate has developed- lawmakers say those three big proponents- dot reform, gas tax increas and income tax cut- all are required. senator massey said trying to pass each piece individually, or drastically

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proposal, would make it much more difficult to pass. ww wis news 10 tomorrow -- governor nikki haley will deliver the state of the state address. wis will carry the governor's state of the state address live tomorrow night here on the news at 7. representative mandy powers norrell will deliver the democratic response. we have new information on a chase and deadly car crash possibly connected to two armed robberies. the lexington county coroner says jerrid green was killed in the crash in pelion yesterday. deputies say this strated with an armed robbery at the 44 truck stop in gilbert around 4 am. less than hour later someone robbed the hill view truck stop less than a mile away. deputies say they saw robbers vehicle and chased it, then the car ran off harvey berry road and hit a tree. they say green was not wearing a seatbelt and died. the only passenger, who deputies say matches the description from both truck stop robberies, was

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the investigation into the crash is ongoing. detectives are also investigating the role the two may have played in a stabbing incident late sunday night in pelion. the coroner also identified the driver killed early sunday morning as jovlyn furtick. investigators say furtick was killed at about 3-am sunday morning on pine street in pelion. they say when the vehicle he was driving hit a guy- wire to a utility pole and rolled several times. state troopers say furtick was not wearing a seat belt. the highway patrol is still investigating. today, firefighters are working to figure out what started an overnight house fire. fire crews went back to the home on olde springs road early this morning after hot spots rekindled. the home is in the spring valley neighborhood in the back near flora drive. the richland county fire marshall's office is investigating. what's your story of being hit by last year's floods? up next, midlands leaders want to her from you and "see" what you had to deal with.

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could be a tall, and expensive, order for workers in the midlands. and we start your first alert

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richland county leaders want homeowners and business owners to know they're not alone in the richland county leaders want homeowners and business owners to know they're not alone in the recovery process from octobers flood. this week, michal higdon reports they're trying to pull together, and head off future problems. future problems. if you have paperwork and photos from october's flood or recurrent flooding that's affected your home -- richland county officials want you gather all of that documentation for an

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strategizing meeting tonight. richland county leaders are looking to develop a future flood mitigation plan. right now there is still very visible damage at homes in neighborhoods hardest hit from october's floods. those areas include lower richland county, the gills creek watershed and stoop creek watershed. while construction crews are working to finish the rebuilding as quickly as possible.... the meeting itself will include damage they've experienced from flooding. cain boozer: "what could be done different or what could they offer? the infrastructure, the dams need to be updated. you know, past that level i really don't know. i think that the community stepped up big time though." the first of several flood- input meetings will be tonight at st. andrews park in columbia. the address is right there on your screen and is set to start at 5:30. the meetings are open to

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officials, emergency responders and other parties affected by october's flood. if you can't make the one tonight -- there are five more you can attend. that list is on our website, wistv.com. reporting from the newsroom, michal higdon, wis news 10. a new study paints an alarming picture on how much money you need to get by in south carolina. the financial self- sufficiency study released today says you need to make at least $16.87 an hour to be considered self-sufficient in parts of the state - like here in the midlands. the study was put together by the united way, usc, furman and the university of washington. experts say 2008's financial crisis also added to the problem. "cost at the basic needs level are continuing to rise faster than the cpi and certainly faster than wages." many non-urban counties - according to the report - have an even higher required wage to be

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a new year means a new start, in a new home, for students at columbia's cardinal newman school. the school opened up today for the first day of classes in its new building. the new cardinal newman is on a 50-acre campus on alpine road. it includes 35 classrooms, 2 gymnasiums and multiple athletic fields. cardinal newman's principal says they're already feeling at home. "i've shed many tears, i'll tell you and especially over the past 2 weeks as we actually moved things in and started to get settled but when i stood at the door to welcome students coming in, the reality really hit that he we are today with what we have been waiting for, for such a long long time." the move comes after the students and staff outgrew their previous 54-year-old campus on forest drive. time now for an update on your

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as cold high pressure is in charge today though wednesday. today, sunny and cold, highs lower 40s. tonight, clear, cold, lows near 20 to lower 20s. wednesday, mostly sunny, chilly, highs middle 40s. thursday, increasing clouds, a chance of showers by evening, highs lower 50s. rain chance 20%. a strong storm system develops to our west and will bring widespread rain by friday, some rain may

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highs in the middle 50s, rain chance 80%. system moves out by early saturday, colder air behind the storm may sneak into the area on the back end in time for a flurry or two early saturday. sunday looks mostly sunny, highs

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the business of summertime fun is wednesday. today, sunny and cold, highs lower 40s. tonight, clear, cold, lows near 20 to lower 20s. wednesday, mostly sunny, chilly, highs middle 40s. thursday, increasing clouds, a chance of carowinds amusement park is now looking for four thousand workers for its upcoming season. when the season starts in may, the park will have two new attractions, including the all new carolina harbor. that will be the carolinas' largest water park. jobs range from concessions to marketing and entertainment. you can apply online or in-person at the park.

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to the capital city. today pearl jam announced north american concert dates for a 2016 tour and it includes stops in the palmetto state. the band will play colonial life arena on thursday, april 21. they'll play in greenville on april 16th. tickets will go on sale next friday, january 29th at noon. a special ticket presale for current pearl jam ten club starts today. cam newton has won a lot of awards in his career... and the latest addition to his trophy case has some extra meaning.

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for the fourth time this season, the s-e-c named u-s-c sophomore forward a'ja wilson player of the week today. wilson scored 26 points, averaged 10 and a half rebounds, and career-high 8 blocks in back-to-back games against top-15 opponents. she also earned espn national player of the week honors as well. on the men's side tonight the gamecocks hit the road to take on the rebels. usc will have to slow down the southeastern conference's leading scorer senior guard stefan moody the gamecocks will be in oxford tonight where they have won just once in 13 tries. opening tip is 7 o'clock on the sec network. carolina panthers star

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has won a lot of awards and today he added an accolade from his own teammates. the team announced newton is its 2015 ed block courage award winner. the award is named after the longtime head athletic trainer of the baltimore colts who was not only respected in his field, but also as a humanitarian. it honors one player from each nfl team who shows courage on and off the field. newton was selected for the honor in a vote by his teammates. the carolinas aren't the only place dealing with some bitterly cold temperatures this week. in fact in minneapolis temperatures have been hovering around zero degrees for the last two days. so one man decided to have a little fun and its inspired multiple copycats. he froze a pair of his pants and his lawn. after the idea went viral people started freezing jeans, corduroys, and sweatpants. "i just think it's a fun thing

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it's cold in minnesota, and you know, we can make our pants stay up. . " "i just ran them through the washing machine and brought them out after the spin cycle. it took a couple minutes to get them to freeze, and then they were pretty easy to stand up once they started to freeze." the man says he got the original idea from his brother and has been doing it as "self- amusement" for a few years. let's get an update on your weather with ben. temperatures started in the teens in many places as cold high pressure is in charge today though wednesday.

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